Letter: Open letter to Congressman Huffman and Corps of Engineers

Open letter to Congressman Huffman and Corps of Engineers:

We are dismayed at the latest news of Caltrans' proposals attempting to meet their commitment to reduce the impacts on wetlands and streams, as they agreed to do as a condition of reinstatement of their 404 Permit. We believe Caltrans' proposals are inadequate and continue to involve major, avoidable impacts on wetlands, streams, and cultural resources.

Caltrans continues to summarily reject the option of postponing construction of the huge northern interchange without any solid rationale to justify this. They make arguments that it would require redesign causing a year's delay and extra cost, but this is not borne out by any documentation and defies common sense. In fact, it appears such an adjustment to the existing design could be accomplished by a simple change order. As detailed in previous correspondence, it would directly save wetlands, time and money – not to mention potentially reducing the amount of mitigation work.

Another important factor is the impact on cultural resources. In contrast to the information contained in earlier environmental documents, the entire bypass route, and in particular this northern area, is now known to be rich in Native American artifacts, including a village and possible burial sites. Reducing the footprint of the bypass is the least that can be done to preserve this irreplaceable heritage.

It appears the rejection of this option is entirely premised on Caltrans' desire to "pave the way" for the future 4-lane expansion of the bypass. We again note that postponing the northern interchange in no way precludes nor adds any significant obstacle to that future possibility. And we emphasize that it is extremely unlikely that there will ever be a Phase 2, due to funding constraints and lack of need.

Eliminating the round-about while building the huge interchange is backwards from what should occur. The "savings" in wetland impacts appear minimal. It would be a travesty to reject a simple change that saves substantial wetlands for the foreseeable future in favor of such an inadequate proposal that would make sense only if Phase 2 were a likely prospect. Moreover, eliminating the round-about actually makes access between the bypass and Willits less convenient for the large share of traffic involved (commuters to and from Laytonville, Brooktrails, and so forth).

Finally, we still see no proposals that compensate for the extensive temporal losses that have occurred. If irreversible commitments proceed on the northern interchange, with moving some 900,000 cu. yds. of fill, channeling streams and building bridges, it appears that Caltrans will bear no significant consequences for their past delays or failures – let alone for the next round of direct impacts and the uncertainty of their future mitigation measures.

We urge that, for once, Caltrans be required to revise their over-ambitious, costly and environmentally destructive plans in favor of a solution that protects environmental and cultural resources and improves benefits to the public.